


Absolute Confidence

by streetsuss_serenade



Category: Generation Kill
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 08:58:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7611751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/streetsuss_serenade/pseuds/streetsuss_serenade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brad sometimes misses his LT, even when Nate's right in front of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Absolute Confidence

Nate smiled at Brad from across the breakfast table, and Brad missed his platoon commander, who never would have smiled so freely, with the urgency of a fist to the gut.

Brad knew it was fucked up that, now that he was home and safe and he’d gotten Nate into an actual bed, he wanted to be back in the desert, but he felt a little bit off, a little bit out of sync. He missed the sense of knowing every single thing he needed to know about Nate, of Nate being a solid, known thing in a sea of confusion.

In the desert, simultaneously freezing and sweating, with artillery booming in the background, Nate and Brad had been stripped to their sparest selves, becoming simple machines to operate in a complex environment. Nate, then, had made sense, had sometimes been the only thing that did. Nate, now, was constantly surprising Brad with smart ass remarks, strong opinions, playful teasing. Brad didn’t want to go back, not exactly, but he felt like he was on the wrong foot, out of step, constantly a beat behind. He wanted Nate to stop delivering a stream of small surprises, and go back to being the constant, solid presence Brad had come to trust so fully.

When Brad looked up from his coffee, Nate has somehow clued in to his turmoil, and was raising his eyebrows in a look that was achingly familiar. Brad had seen that look when he’d too openly questioned the strategic plan, when he’d been too free with his personal feelings, when he’d climbed into a hole to help the only way that he could.

That look meant “You need to snap to.” It meant “I’m not going to let you blow yourself up trying to maintain property values in Greater Baghdad.” It meant “Stop making things harder than they need to be,” and “You’re overthinking this,” and a dozen other things that Nate had said to him since they’d come home. Brad might not know everything about this new Nate, not yet, but he knew this look, and the familiarity of it was grounding. If Nate said that this could work, well, then, Brad was assured of this.

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a drabble. It ended up being a drabble x 4.  
> I'm still struggling to get the voice right, but I've taken this as far as I can without feedback, so here it is. Critiques welcome.


End file.
